Chapin Hall

For Mental Health Awareness Month, Chapin Hall Executive Director Bryan Samuels is checking in with Chapin Hall Senior Policy Fellow Dr. Dana Weiner, who serves as Chief Officer for the Illinois Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative, to get some updates on this trailblazing strategy.  

Samuels: Before we discuss you and your Chapin Hall team’s work, I’d like to ask you—as a clinical psychologist—about the youth mental health crisis in our nation.  

Dr. Weiner: It’s definitely a tough time to be a kid in the U.S., particularly for girls. The prevalence of diagnosable mental and behavioral health issues for adolescents ages 12–17 has risen significantly since 2016: depression is up 35% and anxiety 61%. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows one in five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023. The CDC also released data in 2023 showing 57% of U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. That was double that of boys and represented a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade. We also have a mental healthcare workforce shortage, which exacerbates the situation. And kids are dealing with a lot more pressure now with bullying—in person and on social media—and, also, from the state of our world today.   

“The CDC also released data in 2023 showing 57% of U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. That was double that of boys and represented a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade.”

Samuels: The Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative is an intentional, coordinated strategy to ensure that Illinois families get the mental and behavioral healthcare they need. Earlier this year, the BEACON Care Portal was launched. Can you tell me a bit more about that? 

Dr. Weiner: Sure, we launched the BEACON Care Portal, a centralized resource for Illinois youth and families seeking services for behavioral health needs, in January and hundreds of Illinois families use it every day to access care. Within BEACON, parents can sign a consent form that allows their information to be shared with interagency professionals who are now working together to get families the help they need. If the parent answers a series of questions, they are immediately given a list of state-based and community-based resources they can access, and they’re also given the option to speak to a Resource Coordinator from the Division of Mental Health, who will contact them within 24 hours. If they don’t want to share information, they can search for services to see what’s available in their area. Parents/guardians can also upload pertinent documents, so people in different agencies who need to see them have access. 

Samuels: What are you and your team finding in terms of how BEACON is being used since its launch? 

Dr. Weiner: The significant daily traffic to BEACON and many callback requests from resource managers or clinical specialists at the Division of Mental Health are revealing a high level of need for services among young people; we always knew it was there, but people had a hard time finding help. We’re working to build capacity to address this demand, especially for wraparound services that prevent child welfare or juvenile justice involvement, and for transition-aged youth (like those aging out of DCFS, for example) who struggle to move into adult services. Since there’s no specialized service array for them, we’re collaborating on a potential pilot program.  

We’re also launching a pilot providing in-home behavioral health aides for parents of children on the autism spectrum who also have behavioral health issues. It’s really hard for parents of youth who have been hospitalized; parents are sometimes reticent to bring them home from hospitalization because they can’t provide the round-the-clock attention and supervision that they would need to keep the other kids and people in the family safe. This program will train paraprofessionals in de-escalation and to support the delivery of other evidence-based interventions like ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis). We’re excited about this innovation and service expansion. 

“We’re working to build capacity to address this demand, especially for wraparound services that prevent child welfare or juvenile justice involvement, and for transition-aged youth (like those aging out of DCFS, for example) who struggle to move into adult services.”

Samuels: One issue in many states, including Illinois, has been the ability to find places for youth who need residential treatment. What are the advancements your team is working on in that area? 

Dr. Weiner: BEACON has greatly improved our insight into both service demand and supply—especially in residential treatment—which was previously opaque to us. By partnering with providers and building an IT system for daily capacity reporting and dashboards, we’ve created system-wide transparency. Now system planners and agency staff can immediately see available residential beds, improving how we target capital grants to develop new programs. This effort is being led by Chapin Hall research and policy staff, including Mike Stiehl, Louisa Silverman, Caitlin McDonald and Sam Shapiro.   

Samuels: We know part of the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative strategy is to establish mental health screenings in schools. What’s the update on that effort? 

Dr. Weiner: We’ve been working hard toward building the foundation for mandatory mental health screenings in schools for kids in grades 3–12. Illinois Senate Bill 1560 (SB1560) mandates that school districts offer mental health screenings to students in grades 3–12 at least once a year, starting with the 2027–2028 school year. The bill has now passed both the Illinois Senate and the House. Importantly, there’s been bipartisan support for this. We worked with the Illinois State Board of Education to assist them in completing a readiness assessment of all school districts that informs a phased implementation approach: the first phase will be districts already doing screenings; second will be those with high levels of readiness but not yet screening; and third will be districts that have the furthest to go to build their screening processes. This three-year plan allows time to build supports, shift the culture, and ensure statewide success. The School Screening Readiness Report is live on the ISBE website and was led by Kiljoong Kim and Louisa Silverman. 

Samuels: We know families that have previously navigated these systems have been critical to the initiative. Can you tell us more about how they’ve helped and why it’s so important to have their input? 

Dr. Weiner: Indeed, families who have sought treatment for their children have helped us learn about the problems they have with accessing services. Early on, we built business-process maps—essentially a flow chart—depicting how access to services is supposed to work, and asked families to show us how it was working. Hearing from them helped us learn what to prioritize. For example, the idea of being able to upload documents to BEACON came from a parent! We’ve also engaged parents to communicate about the changes/upgrades we’re making, so they’re spreading the word about how they’ve used BEACON. Having a team member who has experience with seeking treatment for a child is also invaluable. Chapin Hall Senior Policy Analyst Regina Crider is leading the work to build community strengths and community networks. She is liaising between philanthropy and the Illinois Department of Public Health to secure planning grants for seven family-run organizations that will serve as the hubs for community networks that we’re trying to rebuild in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public Health. We have to have strong community networks in order for school screenings to be successful and so we’re aware of local service needs. Regina brings our focus to how families experience things, driven by her experience as a parent navigating the system. 

“Indeed, families who have sought treatment for their children have helped us learn about the problems they have with accessing services…For example, the idea of being able to upload documents to BEACON came from a parent!”

Samuels: How does equity factor into the Initiative? 

Dr. Weiner: One of our main goals is to implement strategies that promote equitable access to services, rebuilding trust among youth, families, and provider partners. In developing the Blueprint, our team leveraged state data to identify needs, and applied a race equity lens to analyses that helped uncover disparities and develop strategies that address their root causes. We also incorporated adjustments for economic hardship and exposure to community violence as part of our efforts to promote equitable access among various services available to youth.   

Samuels: Are there any lessons learned so far while you’ve been planning and executing the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative here in Illinois that could be useful to all parents and kids? 

Dr. Weiner: We’ve really learned the importance of technology that helps drive practice that is responsive to what people need. Also, consulting with the people you intend to help is an absolute necessity. By leading and overseeing a group of inter-agency collaborators we were able to observe behind-the-scenes barriers that prevented agencies from efficiently delivering needed services. I’d also add that I’ve learned a lot about the legislative process and would recommend to others who wish to propose significant changes to the system to get acquainted with how it works. Overall, I believe people can move mountains together if you give them hope, information and, the right tools.